Is everybody paying attention to the young man who is testing the First Amendment …all the way to the Supreme Court?

“Back in 2002, a kid up in Alaska decided to put up a banner at his school — yes, they now have schools in Alaska. The banner said, obviously, BONG HITS 4 JESUS. Young dadaist Joseph Frederick said he just wanted to put some crazy stuff on a banner “as an absurdist way to assert his free-speech rights.” Oh, and the Olympic Torch and its Human Jogger-Carrier were passing the school that day. So the principal tore down the Jesus banner, and now Ken Starr will argue on behalf of the principal and the Bush Administration (really). On the other side, the ACLU and conservative Christian groups will argue for the rights of 14 year olds to put up BONG HITS 4 JESUS banners.”

” An array of groups, from advocates of drug law changes to gay rights backers to supporters of religious freedom, have lined up behind him. ”This case is not about drugs. This case is about speech,” said Douglas Mertz of Juneau, Frederick’s lawyer. “

“A number of Christian legal heavy hitters, including Alliance Defense Fund, the Christian Legal Society and the American Center for Law and Justice, supported the student with friend-of-the-court briefs, though lawyers for the groups they disdain the speech in question.”

Apathy Invites Tyranny…Silence is Slavery